Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Genre: Modernist novel/Jazz Age novel/novel of manners
Publication: Penguin Books
Release Date: 1969 (not sure about the exact date)
Pages: 188
Spoilers: Yes, I’m sorry.
So this is a first time for me: reviewing a book that is one of those classic you-have-to-read-books. It can be included to the list of books like Animal Farm and To Kill A Mockingbird. Which, honestly, is pretty hard to me. These books have been reviewed SO MANY TIMES, I feel as if I can’t review it at all. But I will try. And since I’m just a teen that loves to read books, I will use the website “SparkNotes” to help my.
So, I’ve read this book during my vacation in Greece and I wrote down my notes on small pieces of paper and in a note book. So I will have to use that for now.
In the beginning of The Great Gatsby, I wasn’t sure who was talking. I expected to read it from Mr. Gatby’s point of view, but that wasn’t the case. So that was kind of confusing at the beginning. But after figuring out who was talking, I got it right away. I needed to get used to that, but the English was pretty readable.
Like I said: I needed to get used to writing of Fitzgerald. It was pretty funny though, so once I got it, the formality of the book actually made it very good. Also, after settling with the idea of not reading it from the POV of Gatsby, he got introduced in a very funny way. I started to like the book more and more. Sometimes I did lost my way in figuring out who all the characters were, I just made peace with the fact I would never understand all of them until the end of the book.
SparkNotes says: “Nick Carraway narrates in both first and third person, presenting only what he himself observes.” So this was pretty important, I guess. Because Nick told us, the readers, about what HE thought of Mr. Gatsby. Which is kind of funny, because this book is all about him. But you never get an objective view of the guy himself. And I must say that Nick isn’t the most reliable character. None of the characters are.
Throughout the book, the characters talk about historical events, which actually add a depth to the book. I got a better look on how people lived, what was happening around them and why they made certain decisions.
And what about these parties? There are a thousand parties and everybody goes there even though some of them don’t have an invitation. They go to the party anyway. And Gatsby? Never seen him at his own party. Huh? What kind of parties did they have during the 20’s? I don’t think getting drunk at the age of 30 and screwing up you car is something you want to accomplish or am I missing something?
I do think the Gatsby was a bit superficial. But maybe that’s because I have no “real” knowledge of this book and their characters. I did really love the story line between Daisy and Gatsby. I was really stunned by the fact that everybody cheated on everybody. I was shocked, honestly. But I guess that has to do with the environment they live in. It’s accepted but not talked about. It took me a while to figure out what was going on between the two of them, but later on their relationship was explained.
The ending, I must say, scared me. Deaths everywhere. I didn’t get everything, expecially not the behavior of Nick towards Mr. Gatsby. Sometimes he approved of him, sometimes not.
I guess I need to do more research to The Great Gatsby to fully understand the book and the man himself.
Need some more information (that you will actually LIKE and UNDERSTAND)? Click this link below because Mr. John Green will tell you all about The Great Gatsby. (Because I just realized I missed ALL the symbols in the book. I suck at that.)
